Etymograph

English

tyrosine

Tyrosine comes from Ancient Greek τῡρός ‘cheese’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- ‘to swell’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tewh₂-1‘to swell’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tuh₂-ró-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tūrós2‘cheese’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτῡρός3tūrós‘cheese’
  5. Englishtodaytyrosine3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Hellenic *tūrós
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τυρός
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English tyrosine

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tewh₂-Wiktionary, Proto-Hellenic *tūrós‘to swell’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tuh₂-ró-sWiktionary, Proto-Hellenic *tūrósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tūrósWiktionary, Ancient Greek τυρός‘cheese’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτῡρόςWiktionary, English tyrosinetūrós‘cheese’
  5. EnglishtodaytyrosineWiktionary, English tyrosine

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- ‘to swell’

tumor, tomb, tumour, soma, truffle, tumultuous, tuff, trifle, tumult, tuber, turgid, madrasa, tufa, 43 more

through Proto-Hellenic *tūrós ‘cheese’

butter, 6 more

Today it means

noun A nonessential amino acid 2-amino-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propanoic acid found in most animal proteins, especially casein

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tyrosine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Hellenic *tūrós, Ancient Greek τυρός. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- / tyrosine

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